44 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com classifieds Legal Notices ORDINANCE NO. 5449 AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNTY OF MONTEREY, STATE OF CALIFORNIA AMENDING CHAPTER 15.06 OF THE MONTEREY COUNTY CODE RELATING TO POINT‑OF‑USE AND POINT‑OF‑ENTRY WATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS County Counsel Summary This ordinance amends Chapter 15.06 of the Monterey County Code to authorize and regulate point‑of‑use (POU) and point‑of‑entry (POE) water treatment for new construction on a vacant existing lot of record that will be served by either a domestic water system or a private well that would otherwise not meet primary drinking water standards. The amendment requires both that the County’s Environmental Health Bureau (EHB) approve the POU or POE device to be installed and that the applicant provide EHB with water test results following installation that verify the device’s effectiveness. The amendment also requires that the property owner record a deed restriction regarding the installation of the POU or POE. Finally, this ordinance allows a POU or POE device to be used to meet water quality requirements for construction of an accessory dwelling unit that will be served by water system or a private well, provided that all dwelling units on the property also install a POU or POE device. This ordinance applies in the unincorporated area of Monterey County. The Board of Supervisors of the County of Monterey ordains as follows: SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS. A. Pursuant to Article XI, Section 7 of the California Constitution, the County of Monterey (“County”) may adopt and enforce ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws to protect and promote the public health, safety, and welfare of its citizens. B. This ordinance is intended to provide a new treatment option to ensure that the water delivered to new homes supplied by domestic water systems or private wells can comply with applicable drinking water standards with the objective of providing pure, wholesome, and potable water at all times. C. Centralized treatment systems treating contaminants of concern are expensive, and there is a lack of state funding for local small and state small water systems and limited state funding for privately owned public water systems. D. The installation of point‑of‑use (POU) or point‑of‑entry (POE) water treatment devices is a viable affordable option for property owners that want to construct new homes in these impacted water systems while allowing water systems sufficient time to pursue a long‑term solution for provision of safe potable water, including but not limited to centralized water treatment, a new private well, or consolidation with a compliant water system. E. On June 18, 2019, the Board of Supervisors (the Board) adopted Ordinance No. 5310, which addressed POE and POU treatment. Ordinance No. 5310 amended sections of Chapter 15.04 of the Monterey County Code and added a new Chapter 15.06 to authorize and regulate POU and POE water treatment by local small, state small, and small public water systems that would otherwise not meet primary drinking water standards. F. Ordinance No. 5310 also provided that if an individual property owner is seeking new construction on an existing legal lot with water that does not meet primary water quality standards, the owner may install POU or POE treatment to satisfy water quality standards necessary to obtain a construction permit for development. G. On July 26, 2019, litigation was served on the County challenging the validity of Ordinance No. 5310 on a variety of grounds including purported incomplete California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) compliance. H. On August 27, 2019, the Board adopted Ordinance No. 5316, which suspended Sections 3 and 6 and a portion of Section 5 of Ordinance No. 5310 until December 11, 2019. The suspended sections pertained to POU or POE treatment by local small water systems, state small water systems, and individual existing lots of record on private wells (“Suspended Sections”). I On December 10, 2019, the Board adopted Ordinance No. 5322, which extended the Suspended Sections until further action of the Board. J. On November 28, 2023, the Board adopted Ordinance No. 5408, which allowed local and state small water systems to install POU or POE treatment on active service connections to comply with water quality standards. K. The Board desires to adopt this ordinance to reinstate and amend the Suspended Sections of Ordinance No. 5310 regarding approval of new construction using POU or POE to meet primary drinking water standards on existing lots of record served by either a domestic water system or private well. L. Pursuant to a settlement agreement stemming from the CEQA litigation, the County hired a consultant to prepare an Initial Study to analyze the environmental impacts, if any, from this ordinance. Based on the findings of the Initial Study and applicable CEQA Guidelines (Title 14, Division 6, Chapter 3 of the California Code of Regulations), the County finds that an Addendum to the 2010 Monterey County General Plan Environmental Impact Report (“2010 General Plan EIR”) is appropriate. CEQA Guidelines section 15164 requires the County, the lead agency, to “prepare an addendum to a previously certified EIR if some changes or additions are necessary but none of the conditions described in [Guidelines] Section 15162 calling for preparation of a subsequent EIR have occurred.” Those conditions include: 1) substantial changes as to the project or the circumstances under which the project is undertaken that would require “major revisions of the previous EIR” due to either new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously‑identified significant effects; and 2) the discovery of “new information of substantial importance, which was not known and could not have been known with the exercise of reasonable diligence at the time the previous EIR was certified as complete” showing new significant effects not analyzed by the previous EIR, increased severity of significant effects previously analyzed, or previously infeasible or new, considerably different mitigation measures or alternatives that would substan‑ tially reduce one or more significant project effects on the environment that the lead agency declines to adopt. None of these conditions exists. Consequently, and because the 2010 General Plan EIR included sufficient buildout assumptions to account for this project’s effects, the CEQA Guidelines require the County to proceed by Addendum. M. CEQA Guidelines section 15164(c) provides that an addendum “need not be circulated for public review.” Nevertheless, the County publicly circulated the Addendum for public comment and response prior to bringing the Addendum to the Board of Supervisors for adoption together with this ordinance. No public comments were received. SECTION 2. Section 15.06.010 of the Monterey County Code is hereby amended to read as follows: 15.06.010 Findings and purpose. A. The County of Monterey regulates local small water systems consisting of two to four service connections, and state small water systems consisting of five to fourteen (14) service connections. Many of these water systems are impacted by contaminants of concern. such as nitrate, arsenic, fluoride or chromium VI. B. The County recognizes that centralized treatment systems treating contaminants of concern are expensive, and there is a lack of state funding for state and local small water systems. The installation of point‑of‑use (POU) or point‑of‑entry (POE) water treatment devices is a viable affordable option for these impacted water systems while they pursue a long‑ term solution for provision of safe potable water such as but not limited to centralized water treatment, a new private well, or consolidation. C. POE treatment ensures that all water entering a structure provides a higher level of protection to public health from ingestion and exposure to contaminants than POU treatment. D. POU treatment provides treated water at a single tap for reducing contaminants in drinking water only at that tap to protect public health from ingestion and exposure to contaminants. E. On October 9, 2015, State of California Assembly Bill No. 434 (“AB 434”) took effect. AB 434 amended California Health and Safety Code sections 116380 and 116552, which pertain to POE and POU treatment by public water systems. F. On January 22, 2019, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted regulations that allow the permitted use of POE and POU treatment by public water systems in lieu of centralized treatment by making modifications to Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations, beginning with section 64417. On February 7, 2019, the State Water Resources Control Board submitted the adopted regulations to the Office of Administrative Law for review and approval. On March 22, 2019, the state regulations were signed by the Secretary of State and became effective. The state law applies to public water systems of 15 service connections or more and limits the use of POE and POU treatment to public water systems of fewer than 200 service connections and limits the period of use to three years or until funding for centralized treatment is available, whichever occurs first. G. Monterey County Code Section 15.04.146(c) allows local small water systems (2 to 4 service connections) and state small water systems (5 to 14 service connections) to install POU or POE water treatment devices in conformance with the regulations of this Chapter. The purpose of this Chapter is to establish local County regulations, to govern the use of POE and POU treatment by local small water systems and state small water systems, similar to the recent changes in state law which govern larger public water systems. H By establishing regulations for POE and POU treatment, the County also recognizes that local small and state small water systems differ significantly in technical, managerial, and operational capacity in comparison to public water sys‑ tems in that local small and state small water systems may find installation of centralized treatment financially, manage‑ rially, and operationally infeasible. I. The County finds that bottled water use, although appropriate for disaster emergency response, is not a suitable alternative nor a permanent substitute for an environmentally sustainable, financially affordable, readily accessible and reliable source of drinking water for local small and state small water systems. J. This Chapter is also intended to provide an option for water quality treatment for owners of existing lots of record who are seeking approval of new development but whose water from a private well or existing local small, state small, or small public water system does not meet drinking water standards required for issuance of a construction permit. This Chapter provides the option of POU or POE treatment to satisfy water quality requirements for permit issuance, provided applicants meet the standards of this Chapter. K. The County recognizes that the County has a housing shortage. Allowing a POU or POE water treatment system may help facilitate new construction on existing lots of record upon which water quality would not otherwise meet drinking water standards. L. On December 4, 2018, the Board of Supervisors of the County of Monterey recognized the importance of the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and passed Resolution No. 18‑385 proclaiming that “every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking and sanitary purposes and that this right is extended to all residents of Monterey County including disadvantaged individuals and groups and communities in rural and urban areas”. M. The County recognizes that future land uses may include Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUS) that are served by an impacted water system. The occupants of ADUs, which may include tenants who do not control the water supply, have a human right to safe drinking water. Consequently, this chapter requires new ADUS and existing main dwellings to either satisfy primary drinking water standards or to install a POU or POE treatment system meeting established criteria prior to approval for occupancy. follows: SECTION 3. 15.06.020 of the Monterey County Code is hereby amended to read as follows: 15.06.020 Definitions. Words used in the present tense include the future as well as the present. Words used in the masculine gender include the feminine and neuter. The singular includes the plural and the plural the singular. As used in this Chapter, unless otherwise apparent from the context: A. “Accessory dwelling unit” has the same meaning as “dwelling unit, accessory” set forth in Monterey County Code section 21.06.372, as may be amended from time to time. B. “Active service connection” means a service connection, as defined in Subsection (S) of this Section, that serves an already existing habitable structure. C. “Centralized treatment” means a single treatment plant or device that treats all of the water supplied by a water system for human consumption. D. “Consumer” means a customer or person served by the water system. E. “Contaminant” means any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter in water. F. “Department” means the Monterey County Health Department. G. “Director” means the Director or authorized representative of the Monterey County Health Department, designated to
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